I played piano for years as a kid and got to be reasonably proficient. Though I loved playing, I stopped taking lessons on high school graduation and assumed I’d never take lessons again. Since I wasn’t going to be a professional musician, there was no point to taking lessons after that, was there?

What wrongheaded notions we can seize on and maintain for years and years, and how lucky we are if we run into someone or something who jolts us into questioning them and, perhaps, realizing that they make no sense.

I am lucky to have had all kinds of jolts on different ideas, including taking piano lessons as an adult. 28 years after high school graduation, I realized that wanting to take piano lessons as an amateur adult was the best reason in the world for doing so. So, I enrolled in a local music school and was assigned to the best teacher I’ve ever had. He’s worked with me on unlearning some bad habits and learning new good habits and pushed me to get a really good piano of my own, not to mention to find time to practice, which is always a challenge for me. After nearly four years of studying with him, in my assessment (and in my mother’s, who was not only my first piano teacher but, for many years, my only one), I’m playing better now than I ever did as a teenager, though back then I was practicing far more.

I know several other adults who are also taking lessons on musical instruments. Some had the courage to start learning a completely new instrument in midlife, just because they’d always wanted to, and even though they all hold down demanding day jobs that often require long hours. I know others, including several lawyers, who play professional gigs after long days in the office or in court. Making music is great brain exercise, not to mention FUN, especially when you get to play with others.

Here are five fun books to read about the piano, the first three of which are memoirs by writers who decided to take up or resume piano lessons as adults:

1) “Piano Lessons: Music, Love and True Adventures,” by Noah Adams. Yes, the same Noah Adams who reports and anchors for NPR. At the age of 51, he decided to take piano lessons because he’d always wanted to do it. The book is his memoir of one year of lessons. (Listen to Charlie Rose interview Adams at http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/6205

3) “Grand Obsession,” by Perri Knize, a memoir of the writer’s search for the piano of her dreams and, once she finds it (and dubs her “Marlene” for her marvelous tuning), her quest to get the tuning back so she can fall in love again. Listen to Knize play Marlene at http://www.grandobsession.com/

4) “Piano Girl,” by Robin Goldsby, a delightful memoir of how she became a cocktail pianist. Originally from Pittsburgh, Goldsby now lives in Germany with her family and appears to have a wonderful life and career. Check her website out at http://www.goldsby.de/robin/index.php

5) “Men, Women, and Pianos,” by Arthur Loesser, a fascinating book about the history of pianos and the people associated with them.

If you’ve ever thought of resuming music lessons or singing or playing in a group, or of learning to do something that’s always intrigued you, remember that the best reason is just because you want to, and the best time to start is NOW. If you have any interest in pianos, pay www.pianoworld.com a visit. Its message boards are troves of information, especially if you’re considering purchasing a piano. And if you’ve been holding onto some assumptions since you were small, consider whether they make sense and whether they’re helpful to you: if you challenge them, or seek out people or situations that might challenge them, you might discover that they don’t make sense and you’re happier and better off discarding them.

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